In 1971 Ed Bryant was building a ski chalet in Horseshoe Valley when he met a young Swiss stonemason. During their conversation, the stonemason showed Ed a picture of an oddly shaped concrete object called a UNI-Stone. Ed had seen paving stones years before when he was serving in Germany as an officer in the Canadian military, but realized he had never seen them used at home. He was captivated by what the Swiss stonemason insisted was a far superior paving method.
By luck, Ed’s business took him to Paris the following week, which provided him the chance to extend his trip and travel to Zurich to visit a company that manufactured the UNI-Stone. Within a day, Ed was face-to-face with “Mr. UNI-Stone” a German by the name of Fritz Von Langsdorff. It was the start to an enduring friendship.
Ed incorporated his first paving stone company in 1972 under the name North American Stone Company. He secured a license to manufacture the UNI-Stone from his new friend Fritz; purchased a used concrete batch plant along with a Schlosser paver machine that made just twelve stones at a time, and set up operations in Barrie, Ontario.
The next step was to find skilled installers for the product, and Ed worked closely with trainees to teach them the German standard for installing paving stones. It was the beginning of a win-win partnership that has been a cornerstone of our company’s long-term success.
Sales in the early days were primarily for municipal and institutional projects – demanding applications that were perfect for the high performance of the UNI-Stone. Its unique zig-zag shape was completely interlocking, and tests conducted worldwide had proved its ability to withstand massive loads.
The business began to grow steadily, and by the mid-eighties, Unilock began dipping its toes in the U.S. Market, shipping products from Ontario into Western New York and Michigan. When a dealer in Western New York recognized the market potential for these products, he proposed a joint venture to set up manufacturing in Buffalo. This proved to be another turning point for the company, because it demonstrated that the Unilock operating model that had worked in Canada could work just as well in the United States.
As the company grew, the pace of new product innovation remained steady. Classico was launched in 1983 as the first circle paver system, allowing installers to create free-flowing designs. The early 1990s saw the arrival of the company’s first permeable products; the first facemix products; and new surface textures like Series 3000 and Il Campo. When Unilock began tumbling operations and launched Brussels Block in 1993, the competition thought the company was crazy to charge a premium price for a paver that looked beaten up, but homeowners proved them wrong. They loved the timeworn look, and contractors loved that their installation crew could accidentally chip a stone and it wouldn’t be wasted. It only added to the look!
In 1999, Unilock was invited to become the exclusive North American member of Eurobeton, a group of ten family-owned companies – each operating in a different country – that met regularly to share ideas and insights. This group afforded Unilock access to Elegance technology and three new, game-changing products in 2004: Courtstone, Copthorne, and Richcliff. Even today, more than 20 years later, these products can’t be beat.
Today, Ed’s company continues to lead the North American industry that he kickstarted more than 50 years ago. We’re proud that the company continues to be family owned, with more than 600 employees and manufacturing plants in Canada and across the northeastern and midwest U.S.A. that service customers throughout North America. Although the name has changed from North American Stone Company to Unilock, our values remain the same and we continue to be dedicated to building long-term, win-win partnerships with our customers, continually raising the bar with investments in breakthrough innovation, and an unwavering commitment to corporate integrity.
Ed always said, “nothing great is ever accomplished alone.” As we move beyond our 50th anniversary, we celebrate our mutual successes together, with profound gratitude for all our valued partners, the skilled hardscaping professionals who install our products, and the efforts and entrepreneurial spirit of each and every Unilock employee, past and present, who have made paving it this far possible.
